It can sometimes be relatively easy to determine the ROI of some investments, but seemingly impossible to do so with others. Unfortunately, in our zeal to achieve, we often make it more difficult to isolate the effects of a particular aspect. So what’s needed, in order to properly measure the ROI of an investment?

Identifying costs

Even slight differences in cost can give a very inaccurate picture of the return on an investment. For small investments, the damage may not be significant, for when considering large investments, particularly of an ongoing nature, it’s not hard to imagine potential differences of tens of thousands of dollars or more.

This makes it imperative to ensure that all costs are considered and that they’re accurate. It’s very easy to miss costs that we don’t see as directly related. For example: [Read more…]

We’re coming up on the end of another year! Is it just me that feels like they go by a lot quicker with every birthday? Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 😉

In fact, the changes we’re seeing here are pretty exciting for us! Our content strategy division has already begun an aggressive growth program, and we have plenty more up on the board for 2015. I can’t wait for the kickoff!

If you’ve visited our Top Shelf site lately, you already know that we’ve added a full-time Project Manager and a Chief Editor (welcome, Kristi and Sue) and are expanding our cadre of highly specialized copywriters. We’re at two dozen now and looking for a few more.

And these aren’t your run-of-the-mill copywriters, either. We’ve got teachers, builders, accountants… folks with bachelor’s degrees, doctorates and plenty of formal journalism experience. We’re being very picky, but the quality they crank out is nothing short of awesome.

So, keep an eye out… we’ll be unleashing some serious awesomeness, with a little help from our equally awesome friends… we’ll share some details on that with you when we launch it.

In the meantime, to my many friends, acquaintances, clients and colleagues… our best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a phenomenal New Year!

Last week, a very sweet lady who has earned the respect, friendship and love of many people in the SEO community, suffered a terrible bicycle accident while riding with a group. An errant stick in her path caused Dana Lookadoo to veer off the path into a ditch, resulting in multiple fractures, the most severe being several vertebrae.

My Dad taught me that everything that happens can have positive effects, no matter how dark the situation may seem. Sometimes you just have to look really hard to find them. Years ago, I got into the habit of looking for those little “silver linings”. It can point out opportunities to improve a situation, or just help balance out some of the negatives.

Dana has already endured a lot of pain and discomfort… probably some fear, as well. Now that her physical therapy has begun, she’ll be facing more. Fortunately, she’s one of those rare, dynamic individuals that just fight harder when things get tough. Her progress already, just a handful of days after her accident, is nothing short of inspiring. [Read more…]

Most of us have been on one side or the other (ideally, both) sides of a mentor relationship. I know I’ve had the benefit of receiving a great deal of assistance over the years, not only in terms of techniques and methodology, but also in ways that helped me forge my own business philosophy.

Some of the people that helped me develop my skills in business, management, engineering and SEO… even my personal character… are no longer around. A few of my most recent mentors, though, in the SEO arena, are still kicking. I’ve let most of them know how much I value the sharing of their ideas and opinions. And this post will remind me to ensure that I’ve let all of them know how much I appreciate it. [Read more…]

A couple of years after I “retired”, I set up Doc Sheldon’s Clinic, originally intending it to market my SEO copywriting services. That was about three years ago, and it grew nicely, eventually expanding to include content strategy services, with all that entails.

In 2011, Lisa joined me as a partner and shortly thereafter, we decided to found Top Shelf Copy together, the idea at the time being that Top Shelf would become the content arm of the Clinic and all SEO related services would remain here.

Unfortunately for me, Lisa’s burgeoning family and her own business goals reminded her that she needed to have a life beyond the 100+ hours per week that our efforts demanded, and I soon found myself alone again. That meant even less time for me to think about getting organized with the workflow (who am I kidding? I’m a world-class procrastinator). [Read more…]